Musk's actions, Nassau police and ICE, energy future

Musk's actions don't bode well

Recent Newsday cover headlines involve teachers’ pay, fake vax records and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s militia. All are important topics.

But none is as important as the illegal takeover of our institutions by an unelected person, Elon Musk, and his band of young men [“LI protesters urge Senate Dems to fight,” Long Island, Feb.  6]. This is, in effect, a coup, and arrests should be made. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer suggests litigation. Really?

Now, President Donald Trump threatens to send American troops into Gaza [“Widespread rebuke of Gaza plan,” News, Feb. 6]. Republicans have allowed inexperienced Trump loyalists to take over our federal institutions, including health, education and defense, which are now all in jeopardy. These actions must be stopped. Someone, somehow, must do something.

 — Eileen Hession, Long Beach

A small group of young men gained access to the U.S. Treasury database, including Social Security numbers for all Americans. These men, including a 19-year-old, are now helping determine where that money goes. Hackers? No, they are members of the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, run by Elon Musk and granted access by Donald Trump.

DOGE is not a government agency, its members do not have security clearances, and they were not cleared by Congress. The Constitution gave the power of the purse to Congress, our elected representatives, and we did not elect Musk.

I am outraged that a single individual, a supporter of the far-right German party Alternative for Germany, and a billionaire with obvious conflicts of interest, is helping control the nearly $6 trillion of our Federal Reserve banks. This is unconstitutional and illegal.

Yes, there is waste in government, but this is not the way to clean it up.

— Rosanne Manfredi, Ridge

The abdication of influence by the Republican Party and wealthy media owners is horrifying. Too few Americans understand what is happening. The uber-wealthy are taking control of our government, and the congressional GOP and Democrats seem to be in hiding.

Elon Musk has no business taking over our money or our information or firing our government employees. What’s worse is that Americans were warned about Project 2025, but they were lied to. Russell Vought, newly confirmed as White House budget director, helped write the manifesto. All of Donald Trump’s other picks are also loyal to Trump, not to the Constitution.

Trump is weaponizing the whole government. It’s his retribution against the Justice Department, FBI and anyone who had the misfortune of doing their job against the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. Emboldened by the backing of the richest, power-hungry Americans, Trump is just a figurehead giving Musk and his ilk free rein in destroying democracy.

Congress needs to fix this mess.

 — Michelle Urso, West Babylon 

New Nassau police roles raise questions

The reassignment of 10 detectives raises several questions [“Nassau police to work with ICE for arrests,” News, Feb. 5].

How was this done on such short notice? The Nassau County Police Department has such staff availability? Is the department overstaffed? To which types of cases were the detectives currently assigned?

What will be the impact of this reassignment on the community?

I am a staunch supporter of the county police. What will happen to the detectives’ current cases? What does county District Attorney Anne Donnelly think about this? Will her office lose their availability? Why not seek federal funding?

 — Stan Feinberg, Wantagh

Let’s build our energy future together

The essay “Don’t rush Long Island’s electric grid update” [Opinion, Jan. 30] is a perplexing narrative that suggests, on one hand, upgrades to our region’s electrical transmission network under the name Propel NY isn’t necessary but later acknowledges that it does, in fact, need upgrading.

The writer also says that burying power cables underground isn’t the answer, but one suspects she would be very unhappy when the next storm takes down trees resulting in a power outage in her community.

The writer refuses to acknowledge that every day every family, business, and institution across Long Island is demanding more electricity on a grid that, in many cases, hasn’t been upgraded for nearly half a century.

What the region’s economy requires is safe, reliable, affordable power. Ambivalence, misinformation, and NIMBYism can’t build our energy future.

 — Kyle Strober, Hauppauge

The writer is executive director of the Association for  a  Better Long Island.